I’m a GP receptionist and prepared to be honest about my job.

[TwistedSisterUK]

Hi all, as title says, I’m a Gp receptionist. After reading all the irate, insulting, rude and misinformed threads on here I have made this account!

Please feel free to ask me anything and I promise to answer honestly, even though my opinions and thoughts are likely to make me very unpopular here. I’m prepared for it , having read dozens of previous threads where we are called lazy, rude, power mad, bitches and more…..

I have done this job for 12 years, it’s hard work but can be at times extremely rewarding . I work with a great team. My opinions are only about my job, my day to day dealing at the surgery I work in.

First of all, to the ppl who think we just answer phones and ask patients to please take a seat - I wish!! Lol.

I deal with chemists, pharmacists,hospital secretaries, emails, post, 100s of clinical letters and test reports, arrange all referrals, do all test requests, type all clinicians letters, new patient files are refilled, files from patients leaving must be found and returned, clinical letters received are scanned , coded and actioned, translators requests, letters to be typed up and patients to be called to arrange reviews, Imms,smears etc, the loaning out of medical equipment - there’s lots more but hopefully you are getting the idea that my job involves far more than answering the odd call.

So, the bits you, the patients see and hear are a small bit of my job.

I have to go out today but will be happy to answer any questions any of you may have but I’ll start the ball rolling here about the “ magically appearing appointments “.

I read a lot of complaints here that you call and there are no appointments….then….lo and behold,….after more conversation an appointment is found! This is because I can put it down as an urgent call. If it is NOT an urgent call I will be reprimanded by my manager and if this continues I would possibly lose my job.

I am simply not allowed to continually add more and more patients to be added as “ extras” They are called extras as there genuinely are no appointments left.

When I return I’ll move on to the why we ask the reason for your call! Please be assured I do not think myself in anyway medically trained nor do I even like asking - I have to ask - it’s my job.

I promise any questions or comments will be answered in all honesty! I’m wearing my hard hat…..lol

Thankfully I haven't needed my surgery much over the last few years but, every time I have, the receptionists have been so lovely and helpful.

@TwistedSisterUK I keeping thinking about taking all the staff in some little bunches of daffodils just to let them know how appreciated they are after the last two difficult years. Do you know if it would be ok to do this? I don't know if there are general rules about bringing flowers into GP surgeries, even if they took them home later?

Here are some virtual ones for you, thanks for all you've done!

@MariaOnCorrie

*I think somebody else answered the question “ What are doctors doing now they aren’t seeing patients?” I’ll try and explain some of their many tasks they do at my surgery :

Phone calls to patients. If they want to examine patient they will make a face to face appointment for that day ( or another day if not convenient for patient.

Taking lots of calls from other medical ppl regarding patients. Ambulance crew often ring. Social workers, probation services, addiction services , MacMillan nurses etc.

Loads and loads of paperwork!

Sicknotes.

E- consultations.

Doing the prescriptions.

Home visits.

Reading and actioning every letter received, either by postman, internal mail or electronically.

Checking all blood tests and other results and lots more!

Trust me on this, I wouldn’t want to be a doctor and I understand why so many are leaving. Our doctors do hours and hours of work at home in the evenings and weekends - solely to play catch up.

When I lock up to go home - doctors are still there!*

Yes but they did all this before Covid and saw patients so they are doing less now?

GPs are seeing patients face to face, approximately 2/3 appts in 2021 were face to face pre pandemic levels about 80%. There has been a drop on Gp number at the same time most practices have more patients Total number of appointments have been increasing over th last few years but the numbers above will explain why it is harder. www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/pressures-in-general-practice-data-analysis

@Qazwsxefv Thanks that interesting and makes sense regarding the progession of events. My God the inefficiency though. It could have been remedied if someone at the hospital had said 'yes, you should have a form' the first time I got in contact with them and uhh...email it to the GP. If I get hospitalized for an illness again I'll remember that. But to be honest I felt a lot better, was absolutely knackered and just wanted to go home, which I imagine is how most people feel at discharge.

@RosesAndHellebores

They do an awful lot that's wholly unnecessary and wastes time - 56 day prescribing for example which is absurd for people like me who have a thyroid condition that has been stable for more than 30 years. It isn't even about paying 6 times rather than once for a prescription because I'm exempt. It defies common sense.

You do well to get 56 day prescribing. I have to ask for my thyroid meds every 28 days. Nightmare during lockdowns when I wasn't going out due to age and vulnerable disabled husband and they said they couldn't deliver the prescription. GS lives with me but he was 15 so they wouldn't give them to him.

I wanted to support our small local pharmacy so didn't want to change to one of the online pharmacies but pharmacy didn't seem so bothered about supporting me.

Margo34

I am sorry to hear about your MC. I’m also very sorry about the dealings you had with your GP surgery during this awful time.

At my surgery, if someone is booked for an appt that we don’t deal with we would get a message from gp telling us to contact patient and give them correct telephone numbers to call .

I read that your appointment wasn’t actually booked by the receptionist- please take this up with the practice manager. It is unacceptable for you to wait all day for a call that’s not even been booked in! And I agree, dangerous. This needs actioning now so it doesn’t happen to someone else.

At our surgery if this happened it would be investigated - receptionist would receive more training - and a warning . Seems very little after what you’ve been through. ( I’m discussing the appt not being booked for you here, not if you got sepsis - I honestly don’t know what would happen if the consequences of their actions/ lack of had been worse ) I am just thankful that the worst didn’t happen - please raise these concerns with practice manager so you can get the answers you need )

Please take care , and once again, so sorry for your loss.

@TwistedSisterUK I am sorry but find your thread quite weird.
Why post in AIBU rather than AMA?

You surely must understand that all GP practices differ?

Even 20 years ago, my GP surgery had secretaries responsible for each GP's admin, who did the referral letters and admin, and the receptionists literally answered the phone and made appts.

Are you in a tiny practice with 1 or 2 drs?

Given the appt line is manned at all times, I can't see how you do all the things you say while also answering the phone.

One last thing before I crack on ( get dressed ….lol)

A telephone consultation takes just as long as a face to face appointment - so no, GPS are not doing less than pre covid times. Far more as I’m sure any GP here will agree!

@implantreplace No - it wouldn't be £300K. I was quite shocked at this when I understood how it worked but as I understand it GP practices are franchises which contract to the government and are in a sort of semi-competitive/quasi market. GP partners are then essentially running a business of which they are the owners - although the market in which they operate is as I say managed. They are paid a certain amount per patient on their books and are also incentivised to conduct various other activities (eg vaccinations, preventative checks, etc). They can decide how to distribute the total money they are paid between the partners and other members of staff. They can also do other things to increase their profits which I don't fully understand but include for example renting their premises back to the NHS or something like that. So savvy doctors with a commercial mindset can probably make more.

In my friend's case, she reduced her working hours and (astonishingly in my view) actually increased her pay slightly - because this is the deal she came to with her fellow partners. I guess they didn't want to lose her altogether. Meanwhile, GP receptionists are paid quite frankly a pittance out of the total pot.

I am not saying all GPs make equivalent amounts - I think it also depends on the size of their practice, where it is located, and a bunch of other factors. What I would say is that there are too few GPs being trained but in addition many GPs do now work part-time. This has been a growing challenge for several decades which partly relates to the feminisation of the profession. Further, the contract agreed with the government allows for and even encourages that because its generosity means that GPs can be paid very well working two or three days a week. Locums who choose not to be partners for whatever reason can also make a fair amount of cash and decide how much they work. So there's too few hours in the system as well as actual doctors.

I am not making a judgment about that necessarily but it is all part of the picture right now.

There is a plan afoot to require GPs to declare income on their website if paid over £150K. My friend is dead against that because she says it would be embarrassing. I think we can read into that what we want. Again, I don't blame GPs for this situation and I know they do a hard and stressful job. But I do think there are many other hard and stressful jobs including in the NHS with nothing like the same pay, flexibility and benefits.

I still don't see what youhope to achieve from this OP.

All you are doing is defending your job title / role and saying how wonderful your practice is, compared to the other experiences posters have described.

(And tried to give some insight into the backroom work that goes on.)

But this is all about YOUR surgery. There are thousands across the UK and they are all run differently.

But I do think there are many other hard and stressful jobs including in the NHS with nothing like the same pay, flexibility and benefits.

MOST jobs paying a 6-figure income necessitate a long hard day.
I think some GPs forget this or aren't aware of the hours other people in other professions (equally qualified with Masters and PhDs) work.

And it appears now that most GPs are women who work 2-3 days a week for a very good income.

JinglingHellsBells

I couldn’t read this and run…

As I said in original post I can only offer my opinions on my surgery and my day to day workload. I answered earlier that it is a small gp surgery with 2 doctors, an ANP and one or two nurses depending on the day.

I also said I’d be honest ….so….I wasn’t aware there is an AMA board lol. I only read AIBU….. have done for years….I’ve learned so much here and read it daily! ( I used to read books….lol)

Each GP had their own secretary??? Wow! I wish!

Hand on heart, I do everything I’ve stated and answer the phones, take in deliveries, meter readings, samples collections and still find time to help infirm patients to their taxis outside! I’m not joking….! I come home exhausted as I genuinely don’t stop lol

Please, if there are any more GP receptionists out there….tell me, is my working day not the norm??

@JinglingHellsBells - Yes, that is what I was getting at. I think one problem is that GPs have rarely worked in any other system so there is perhaps a sense that the grass is greener.

From my husband's point of view working very long hours in a corporate job, that combination of money, job security, pension and holiday allowance could only be dreamt of. Admittedly, general practice has more social value than many corporate jobs and that should perhaps be recognised but there are questions around to what extent.

There's also issues around status. I think the status of general practice has changed. Unfortunately this is probably linked to its feminisation but on the other hand struggles against this seem to align with the view that medical practice should have very special status and pay. An additional factor is that GP pay used to be equivalent to other professionals in terms of pay but while it is still very high when judged against the average salary, corporate lawyers and accountants etc probably outpace GPs.

I think that contributes to a slight identity crisis too. In my experience, these are the type of equivalent professional jobs that GPs perhaps imagine they might have gone into but I think some don't always realise that you only get that kind of money at the very top of the profession - and relatively few people make it that far, and even fewer women.

Anyway, the answer has to be to perhaps slightly amend the contract while also training far more GPs. Neither is on the horizon as far as I can see.

Sorry to slightly hijack thread! Will shut-up now.

Once I've managed to get through by phone to my GP Surgery (can be long & tortuous - Can hold for ages then the line just drops out) the receptionists at my GP surgery are helpful, friendly and professional. Not so much one receptionist at my elderly mother's GP surgery when she was suddenly taken Ill, I was two hours away and that receptionist just robotically repeated that she couldn't help. Thank goodness the 111 and 999 operators were more helpful and she was admitted into hospital. 🌹

@questconnect I am old enough to remember when GPs did night visits in emergencies and were back at their desks the next day after little sleep. I had a close friend whose father was a GP. The surgery opened its doors at 3pm and people queued up to go in. The doors closed at 6pm and he would be working till every patient had been seen.

I'm not saying that was a great idea but they did have - or appear to have- more of a sense of vocation than appears to be the case now. The 'family' GP knew their patients , they saw them in their homes and the relationship was more intimate.

Now, and I don't want to tar all GPs with the same brush, they appear to whinge all of the time, in spite of having a very good income, brilliant pensions, and other perks. Most people I know working 12 hr days for a 6-figure income work very hard, have a lot of responsibility and yet no job security and (sometimes) not even a pension.

@questconnect
Please don’t think most GPS who work 2-3 days would be on that salary
Average salary is 98000 per year , most part time Gp will be on 40-60 000 per year - still a good salary but 180k is unusual for part time
Clearly as per any profession some GP s will be on loads but the only ones that I know also work all week and weekend for that salary - as any other professional would

There is a reason the stereotype exists.

I have no doubt its a tough job dealing with the demanding public, especially those who are poorly. But in no other profession have I seen such outrageously rude behaviour as I have at a GP reception.

If you cannot handle a stressful job dealing with the general public then move to a different sector. But I do think a certain type of person is drawn to this role.

@FelicityBennett yes - i know. I mentioned in my post I think that it does differ a lot between practices and on a range of factors. Not saying it’s the same everywhere. I think that is also the problem as some areas are less attractive and less remunerative so struggle to get enough GPs. Really not meaning to trash GPs and what they do, really trying to say that some issues are structural not individual.

@Butteryflakycrust83 I was certainly not drawn to the role for the negative implications you are making.

After 22 years in the back offices of banking I was made redundant. I had no wish to see the same faces and lack of variety day in day out and I had no wish to work full time ever again.

My banking background was Secretarial and Customer Service and these roles have served me well in the 12 years I have been a GP Receptionist.

For you to say a certain type of person is drawn to this role is downright insulting as you are including me in that assumption.

GPs are seeing patients face to face, approximately 2/3 appts in 2021 were face to face pre pandemic levels about 80%

As I recall that was for a definition of "face to face" which included video calls and sometimes even phone calls.

It wasn't referring to traditional face to face appointments in a surgery with the option to conduct an examination and ensure privacy.

I've never managed to pin down the latter number.

[quote TroysMammy]@Butteryflakycrust83 I was certainly not drawn to the role for the negative implications you are making.

After 22 years in the back offices of banking I was made redundant. I had no wish to see the same faces and lack of variety day in day out and I had no wish to work full time ever again.

My banking background was Secretarial and Customer Service and these roles have served me well in the 12 years I have been a GP Receptionist.

For you to say a certain type of person is drawn to this role is downright insulting as you are including me in that assumption.[/quote]
I mean..did I say you? Did I say ALL? No.

[quote TroysMammy]@Butteryflakycrust83 I was certainly not drawn to the role for the negative implications you are making.

After 22 years in the back offices of banking I was made redundant. I had no wish to see the same faces and lack of variety day in day out and I had no wish to work full time ever again.

My banking background was Secretarial and Customer Service and these roles have served me well in the 12 years I have been a GP Receptionist.

For you to say a certain type of person is drawn to this role is downright insulting as you are including me in that assumption.[/quote]
But way to go aggressively jumping down my throat and kinda proving the point!

I think GP receptionists can make or break a practice. I moved surgery recently after several years at another as it was easier to get to and honestly can't believe how helpful and lovely the receptionists are at this new practice. The old practice you could tell the receptionists were just really stressed and overwhelmed, felt sorry for them having worked in a really fast paced stressful role myself but it meant on the surface there were lots of complaints about poor customer service etc.

I think you must have to have incredibly thick skin, resilience and common sense in spades to be a good gp receptionist.

@Butteryflakycrust83 shall I just take it when you goad people about a job they do just so you can prove a point? I've never been aggressive in my job and I've never been told to fuck off like my colleagues have, however I have been threatened with rape.

I think GP receptionists can make or break a practice

That is probably very true. They are the face of customer care. But the systems they work with really don't help. It probably is stressful knowing your going to be facing stressed out people all day.